Kent Innovation High teacher: Project-based learning challenges students to 'think, then do'

Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids PressThe KISD is planning a new innovation high school to send new teaching methods to all 20 districts. Here, Principal Kym Kimber explains what some of the new areas will be while teachers Mike Kaechele and Elaine Shalla tour the facility earlier in the summer.

Reader Michaelcoferspecs noted my references to the New Tech Network schools in Kentwood, Holland and the Kent Intermediate School district, questioned the effectiveness of such programs.

“Show me a school that prides itself on 'innovation,' and I'll show you an underachieving school. These are the schools that constantly buy into each and every gimmick that the educational bureaucracy throws at them,” he wrote.

Michael Kaechele is a social studies teacher at the new Kent Innovation High School and offered to reply to the post. He's passionate about the program, and here's what he had to say about the school and its educational philosophy.

“Project-based learning is when students are presented with a complex problem, work collaboratively to research and find a solution to the problem that they present to an authentic audience. (For a more detailed overview see here and here.)

Michaelcoferspecs attacks PBL saying "Check out the research on 'project-based learning' and other technology based initiatives. Please. Simply put, it doesn't work."

That is not true. The Buck Institute for Education has listed many research articles on PBL. PBL is built on the philosophy of constructivism, the idea that learning is built upon previous learning through active engagement. PBL is not a gimmick or a fad. It has been around and successful for a long time.

Technology is an important tool in PBL, but it is NOT the focus. Arguments against technology in schools are not new, Socrates was very upset about writing, saying that it 'will produce forgetfulness' and 'discourage the use of their (pupils) own memory.'

I admit that there are always trade offs with any technology that we use but that is not a reason to wholesale reject it. Besides schools have been using technology of different kinds for centuries: chairs, desks, books, paper, pencil, and chalkboards were all technological advances at one time. Computers and the internet continue the trend of using the technology that is used in society. Why don't people rail against using technology in health care, government, and businesses?

On top of the content, PBL focuses on 21st Century skills (I hate this label by the way as these skills have existed for centuries) such as communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. These are the skills essential for today's workplace. We no longer have an industrial society needing obedient workers to operate machinery. We need creative people to find innovate solutions to complex problems. Traditional schools are often about controlling students. PBL frees students to pursue learning in personal ways.

Another problem I have with these criticisms is that they always seem to be based on standardized test scores. The problem with this narrow approach, based on one score on a multiple choice test is that it does not reflect the totality of a student.

The methods of many of these 'low income, high performing' schools is drill and kill and rote memorization. This is great if our goal is for our students to win Jeopardy, but we are preparing students to solve complex problems such as the debt crisis, poverty, sustainability of the earth, genocide, equity, and justice in the world. The answer to these questions is NOT:

A. simple.
B. found in a textbook.
C. "a Crayola curriculum."
D. on a standardized test.
E. all of the above.

Michaelcoferspecs makes one statement that I can totally agree with:

“Unfortunately, every darn bit of research you find in education suggests that the best teachers have an amazing talent for skipping all of the useless busywork. They spend the vast majority of their time getting kids to think, think, think, think."

And that is what PBL is all about challenging students to think, think, think and then do, do, do. PBL is all about reading, writing, and thinking. PBL is NOT students cutting pictures out of magazines and making posters, but addressing authentic problems deeply.

PBL does not focus on stale memorization of boring textbooks, but motivates students to investigate from a multitude of sources just like historians, writers, and scientists do. On top of these skills though PBL is also about DOING. It is not enough for students to be passive about learning but to be actively involved taking it much deeper. PBL is much more like actual jobs than the traditional classroom is.

Michael Kaechele

Another key element of PBL is community involvement. Students are not just taking a test or writing a paper for their teacher, but are presenting their solutions to businesses or members of the community.

This gives authenticity to their tasks so students don't have to ask "Why do we have to learn this?" We are not preparing students for the "real world" some day, but teaching them how to contribute to their local and global communities right now.

The most important part of PBL in my opinion is that it gives students voice and choice in their learning. It requires the teacher to step back and give power to the students in deciding how they will solve problems and present their solutions. (this is also where some resistance comes from teachers who are unwillingly to give up control).

For example one unit my students will study this year is on racism and genocide asking, “Where does racism come from?” We will read from primary sources, biographies, and watch videos. We will discuss and write about all of these in detail both face to face and online. But the most important part may be when we talk to local refugees about their experiences with genocide.

Students will then create short documentary videos about genocide to present back to the refugees and the community. I can't wait to see what students will come up with! Students will primarily be assessed on the content of their videos meaning that they must meet the state standards.

Does this sound like "useless busywork" to you? I honestly can't understand how anyone can think reading from a textbook and taking a test is a better way to learn than this.

Finally I would like to invite you to visit our school next year. Our school is a lab school designed for people to see what PBL looks like in action. Talk to us and especially our students and decide for yourself if we are learning or "wasting time." I personally would love to continue this conversation anytime on my blog or on Twitter.”